US bank bets on India

By Our Correspondent

Bengaluru

Aug. 18: The Export-Import Bank of the United States, the US government’s official export credit agency, says its India portfolio may exceed $5 billion in one to two years. That may make India its largest exposure country.

Currently, the India portfolio stands at $3.5 billion, behind Mexico and China. Thus far, the bank, whose mandate is to support the US exports of goods and services to promote US jobs, has provided financing to Indian borrowers in multiple sectors such as aviation, telecom, oil and gas among others.

While these segments will continue to remain important — the bank states commitments to Air India, for instance — it would increasingly entertain financing the power and energy sector, vice-president and manager of the bank’s strategic initiatives division, Mr Raymond J. Ellis said. He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a presentation to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bengaluru on Monday. Mr Ellis expects the segment’s exposure to touch half a billion in a year’s time. The bank has committed $2.45 billion for India infrastructure projects and capital goods purchases.

Speaking on the occasion, bank’s director (office of renewable energy and environmental exports), Mr Craig S. O’Connor, said the bank will give top priority to supporting renewable energy projects.

This is a segment that is growing rapidly in India, O'Connor said while pointing to projects such as Tannir Bhavi power project in Karnataka and AMR water project in Andhra Pradesh that have already been financed by the bank.